Glenmorangie The Original 12-Year-Old Review

Glenmorangie has revamped its core range, giving the whiskies a fresh new label. For The Original, the change goes a step further: from now on, the expression is bottled as a 12-year-old single malt. What does that do to the flavor? You’ll find out in this Glenmorangie The Original 12 Year Old review.

Glenmorangie’s original expression means a great deal to Dr. Bill Lumsden, head of distilling & whisky creation at Glenmorangie. It was one of the first drams he ever tasted, even before he joined the distillery. He’s always wanted to stay faithful to its flavor profile.

Even so, he and his team decided to fine-tune the whisky. The result: the same spirit, now with a longer maturation. It has moved from ten years to 12. According to Lumsden, this has “turned up the volume on the classic notes of orange, vanilla, honey, and peach in our signature whisky.”

It should also be noticeably more complex than its predecessor.

While Glenmorangie has tweaked the flavors of The Original, the box is virtually unchanged: it already received an upgrade earlier. The Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year Old came in a bright orange box with “Glenmorangie” in bold white lettering.

You’ll spot the 12-year-old The Original single malt by the same color palette. On the front, alongside the bold white text, you’ll find elegant linework and a prominent age statement. As always, there’s also the square detail from the Cadboll Stone, Glenmorangie’s emblem, just like on every bottle.

The bottle itself is unchanged from the previous version of The Original. The label and cap are predominantly orange, making it pop on the shelf. The bottle has a long neck, a subtle nod to the stills, and the brand’s mascot, the giraffe.

At first glance, not much seems different. The color is nearly identical to its forerunner, a golden hue reminiscent of early summer sunlight. The whisky clings nicely to the glass, a hint of the creamy texture to come.

On the nose, it also recalls the 10-year-old, which makes sense, as it’s the same spirit with extra time in cask. First come fruity notes of sweet orange and ripe peaches, followed by vanilla and floral tones like chamomile.

The aroma suggests a sweet character that promises a gentle landing on the palate. Sweet-toothed drinkers will already be smiling, this promise is fulfilled quickly.

On the palate, the new Glenmorangie single malt feels oily. That’s in line with the previous version, but what follows isn’t. While the core tasting notes remain, the flavors come through more vividly than in the 10-year-old.

Expect wild peach, vanilla, candied orange, and syrup, with hints of toffee and a very subtle tartness in the background. Thanks to the creamy texture and modest ABV, you can swirl Glenmorangie The Original 12 Year Old around your mouth for ages without any burn.

That lets every layer unfold right into the medium, fruit-forward finish. It’s still not a particularly complex whisky, but it’s a joyful parade of sweetness that never becomes cloying. It does raise the question of how much more intense it might be at a higher ABV than the bare minimum.

Glenmorangie has given The Original a subtle upgrade by adding two extra years of maturation. It may sound like a marketing move, but the expression has genuinely been refined.

Despite the minimal ABV, this 12-year-old single malt offers a very sweet, fruity profile with more intense flavors and a medium-length finish. A must for sweet-tooth fans; less so for lovers of deep complexity or smoke. Still, at under 40 euros, it’s hard to go wrong.

+ A 12-year-old whisky at an appealing price

+ Tailor-made for those who love sweeter drams

- Still not particularly complex